No crime attracts more police resource than a murder, but sometimes no matter how much effort is put in the crime goes unsolved.

The victims are denied justice and their friends and families are denied closure despite the best efforts of our criminal investigation system.

In the majority of cases the murderer is quickly arrested, interviewed, charged and put before the courts.

But in a handful of now infamous killings in Devon, the case hasn’t been resolved in the first few hours, days or weeks, reports plymouthherald .

As months and years have passed, incident rooms have been wound up and detectives assigned to other cases.

The murders are never forgotten within the corridors of Devon and Cornwall Police, which continues to re-examine the files for possible new leads and ultimately convictions.

ESTHER SOPER

The oldest case is the unsolved murder of Plymouth widow Esther Soper on New Year’s Day 1976.

Mrs Soper, a grandmother and devoted member of the Plymouth Brethren, was strangled to death with her own tights in her home.

The mystery of who murdered the quiet and religious community member from Plymouth remains unsolved to this day, despite hopes that DNA improvements over the years would lead to the identification of her killer.

The story of Mrs Soper’s death has presented the police with a number of questions over the years. The 51-year-old was found in her home at around 9pm on January 1, 1976, after two members of the Brethren called at the house to find out why she did not show for a meeting earlier that day.

They discovered Mrs Soper’s body wrapped in her curtains after she had been bludgeoned with a cider bottle and strangled to death in Trematon Terrace, Mutley Plain.

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During the run-up to her death, Mrs Soper had been trying to sell her property, which turned out to be a key aspect of the murder inquiry.

Mrs Soper had made a number of appointments for people to view the house near the time of her death.

Police put particular focus on a “Clifford Sparks”, who had booked to see the property for a second time on New Year’s Day, after having seen it only a few days previously.

At the time, the police believed that the name may have been fabricated by an estate agent – fairly common practice in those days – after intensive investigations failed to find any links between anyone named “Clifford Sparks” and Mrs Soper.

The case was reviewed in 1997 using DNA technology. Her clothes were sent to a forensic laboratory in Chepstow but only Mrs Soper’s DNA was found on the items.

GENETTE TATE

In October last year one of Britain’s longest running crime mysteries reached a conclusion – even though it remains unsolved.

For almost 40 years the family of Genette Tate prayed that their daughter’s killer would face justice.

But their hopes suffered a setback earlier this year when serial child killer Robert Black died in an Irish jail.

He was the “only suspect” in what has been dubbed Britain’s longest missing persons inquiry.

And with Black dead, Devon and Cornwall Police effectively ended their inquiry.

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Detectives visited Genette’s family armed with a 500-page report which points to their belief that Black was responsible for the kidnap and murder in Devon in August 1978.

Genette was 13 when she vanished in a country lane in Aylesbeare, Devon. Her bike was left in the lane with newspapers scattered about. Her body has never been found.

KATE BUSHELL

It is now almost 20 years since the body of teenage schoolgirl Kate Bushell was discovered by her father in a field just 700 yards from the family’s Exwick home.

Her throat had been cut as she walked her neighbour’s dog. Local residents said they saw a blood-soaked man running from the area minutes before the horrifying discovery – but he has never been found.

The brutal killing in November 1997 remains one of the region’s biggest unsolved crimes and a source of regret for several senior officers who have left the force without managing to snare the person responsible for her death.

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Police have always maintained the case has never been closed and there remains hope that one day – with the advancements in DNA and forensic technology – positive progress could be made.

There was renewed hope of a breakthrough when in March 2010 an investment of several million pounds was announced that would go towards an elite team of detectives and officers.

Their role was to catch the killers wanted for more than 50 murders across the country – including Kate’s. But years later there have been no further developments and that renewed hope has faded once more.